It’s been virtually impossible to miss the Mission: Impossible franchise. Contrary to the titular suggestion, the Mission Impossible Force has been completing missions since the first fuse was lit in 1996. Every entry has upped the ludicrousness and received better reviews because of it (minus Mission: Impossible II). Chalk this up to rubber masks, double-crosses, file transfers, the ever-reliable Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), or Tom Cruise’s increasingly death-defying performance as IMF agent Ethan Hunt—24 years (and counting) of sprinting has proven that Mission: Impossible is here perpetually in high gear.
Fresh off the acclaimed sixth outing, Mission Impossible – Fallout, one can’t help but wonder how we got here and if the proof was in the initial pudding. Let’s do an honest review of the “inspired by your dad’s favorite TV series” movie, 1996’s Mission: Impossible.
Cover Photo: Paramount Pictures
Can’t stop, wont stop: Latest ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Trailer Proves That Tom Cruise Is the Only Actor Who Can Pull Off Long-Overdue Sequels
Brutally Honest Movie Review: ‘Hocus Pocus’ Isn’t Nearly What It Used to Be
Visit the Mandatory Shop for great deals on your very own Mandatory merch.
Follow Mandatory on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
mission impossible honest review
-
Disemboweling the television series.
For many, Mission: Impossible wasn’t pudding, it was the pineapple upside-down cake of prime-time in the '60s and '70s (it might have been on during the day, who knows? That was a long time ago). CBS’s original anthology series followed IMF leader Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) and his team of talented spies embarking on “impossible” and non-violent missions. Director Brian De Palma’s Mission Impossible threw the ever-relevant Jon Voight in the role of Phelps and fans hated it.
The backlash to Voight’s character wasn’t the result of radically right-wing messages posted online but a deconstruction of a beloved character. In the film, Phelps and his team attempt to prevent the theft of the CIA non-official cover (NOC) list. Unfortunately, the mission fails, Phelps is “shot,” and most of the team dies, save for Cruise’s Hunt—who replaces Phelps as the star. It is ultimately revealed that Voight’s Phelps double-crossed everyone. This twist not only upset fans of the original Phelps (who’s a stand-up guy) but the cast of the television series. So much so, that Graves turned down the opportunity to reprise the role when he read the script.
In a time when Hollywood was rebooting every old TV show as a movie (remember The Brady Bunch Movie?), Mission: Impossible was the one that worked. It took the IMF, made it a Cruise vehicle, implemented high-octane action, and discarded substance. Mission accomplished.
-
Plot?
We don’t do that here. Mission: Impossible adheres to the “rule of cool”; throwing logic and physics to the wayside. The iconic theme song serves as a cinematic power-up for Ethan Hunt, making him virtually invincible and immune to a reasonable narrative. That said, while audiences now watch these films to see Cruise risk life and limb, the first film doesn’t have this figured out. It doubles-down on its convoluted and incomprehensible plot—in which Hunt is disavowed and must prove his innocence (for the first of many times). It’s just not as much fun (or self-aware) as its successors. Cardboard-cutout characters, plot holes, and a lack of Simon Pegg (humor), oh my, Mission: Impossible’s only draw is the tropes that have become synonymous with the franchise.
-
The iconic stunt.
The stunt that started it all. The stunt casual movie-goers think of whenever “Mission: Impossible” is uttered. The classic scene sees Cruise lower himself into a room (to steal the NOC list) that has temperature sensors, sound detectors, alarms, and, apparently, no cameras? The wire stunt (which Cruise did himself, obviously) involved balancing horizontally and being dropped 30 feet through an air vent.
Even though Cruise could’ve been seriously injured had they been off a couple of inches, Dropping into a room seems pretty trivial in retrospect -- i.e. knife fights, climbing the tallest building in the world, hanging on to the side of a plane (as it takes off), driving a motorcycle through traffic, and climbing a helicopter’s payload. In its old age, the franchise has honed its money-back guarantee of interwoven stunts, exposition, and unspoken plans. The only uncertainty being the length of Cruise’s hair.
-
One or more people were evil the whole time (the art of the double cross).
Mission: Impossible puts Claire Phelps (Emmanuelle Béart) smack dab in the eye of ambiguity with a performance so shallow blonde Colin Farrell (circa 2006’s Alexander) would roll his eyes. Having “survived” the ambush and teaming up with Hunt, Mrs. Phelps supposedly has the hots for Hunt. In a stunning turn of events (not really) Hunt, masked up as Phelps, tricks Claire into admitting that she’s been working with the mole (Mr. Phelps) the whole time. Unfortunately, no one cares. This suspicious love interest/character that’s been evil the whole time trope has been used in almost every movie since, contributing to the franchise’s proclivity for replacing Hunt’s teammates.
-
Outrunning an explosion, character development, and old age.
Cruise loves to sprint (for a surprising amount of a film’s run time). At some point, an intrepid spirit will cut together the sprinting scenes from every Mission: Impossible film, creating one epic, calorie-burning, and age-defying montage. In the first film, Hunt outruns/jumps only two explosions, both a byproduct of some handy-dandy exploding gum (“red light! green light!”). Again, the explosions and running have only intensified over the years, making Cruise seem like a slouch in 1996.
-
Scooby Dooby Doo, what are you?
And they would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for that damned magic mask machine. Somehow, IMF’s masks change not only one’s face, but their weight, height, teeth, and everything else. Mutant-esque shapeshifting seems extraordinarily out of place in a film that takes itself so seriously.
-
World-ending MacGuffin.
Invoked in every film: do X, get Z, and you’ll stop Y. In Mission: Impossible II it was the Chimera virus and Bellerophon cure, Mission: Impossible III had the Rabbit’s Foot, Ghost Protocol (whenever they wisely abandoned the numerical approach) played with nuclear launch codes, Rogue Nation dealt with 2.4 billion pounds sterling, Fallout hid plutonium cores, and in Mission: Impossible everyone was after the NOC list. Sigh.
-
Your mission, should you choose/decide to accept it.
What if they chose not to accept it? Does everyone die? Does the franchise and its world fade into obscurity? In a universe where everyone is either an arms dealer, rogue agent or accused of being a rogue agent, what happens when there’s no one left to “disavow?” We may never know. It seems Scientology has made Cruise invincible much like the dud that sparked a franchise. Even though the first Mission: Impossible received lukewarm reviews from critics, it grossed more than enough money to warrant a sequel. And then another. Somehow the storylines, tropes, and stunt/exposition/repeat have remained tonally “fresh,” being embraced by audiences and ingrained in popular culture. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to keep watching.
This listicle will consider self-destructing in five seconds.
